Capital Punishment

Capital punishment has been tried and tested through the years and many societies are still in support of the light this aspect of justice brings about and its benefits to the society. The activity has been practiced since time immemorial from the reign of the Persians, the Roman Empire up to the modern democratic societies (Bedau and Paul, 25).

There are those who term the activity as utterly immoral and disrespectful of human life. Religion is known to be one of the sources of morality in human societies. Many of the world’s religions are in full support of the practice including Christianity, Judaism, Islam and even Buddhists. This goes to show that the activity is indeed morally upright (Williams, 102).

Capital punishment is effective in terms of incapacitation and deterrent effects. Capital punishment results in incapacitation of criminals thereby saving lives that the murderer could have possible committed in the future. Statistics indicate that those committing capital offenses are mostly habitual criminals indicating that they commit these activities severally.

By carrying out capital punishment, the justice system ensures that these individuals do not get the chance to carry out their heinous activities in the future. Capital punishment is very effective in deterring possible criminal activities in the future. Majority of the human population harbors a natural fear of death. By invoking the death punishment, every individual would therefore have to think of the consequences before one commits the act.

Although it may be argued that it is not fair to punish one individual for another to learn the lesson, every human being acts on free will. No one is compelled to commit murder or any felony for that matter. Therefore, by setting up the law clearly, then every individual becomes aware of the consequences of his or her actions and thus has to bear responsibility for their actions (Williams, 25).

Works Cited

Bedau, Hugo A, and Paul G. Cassell. Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? : the Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2004. Print.

Williams, Mary E. Capital Punishment. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000. Print.